Sensational America as Portrayed in the Boob-Tube
The Show
Let us first discuss the TV series and how it is being shown. You begin an episode of NipTuck with two men on the screenapparently doctors, or a plastic surgeons to be exact. Then one asks you tell me what you dont like about yourself (Gilbert n. pag.) If you are the captive audience who keeps on watching it season after season, hearing this line might seem usual already to the point that it would not ring a bell anymore. You might have even ordered shirts which has that line printedand even without saying it, the world knows it is from NipTuck.
The very reason why we are drawn into this show is because of a confluence of reasons. Number one is the sensational plot of the TV series. You have 2 successful doctorscareer-wise. One of them is sex crazed and the other is having marital problems. Sean McNamara is willing to perform his skills pro-bono for certain occasions. Christian Troy, on the other hand, is as always looking for the business side of everything he does.
And if you will notice, there is a lot of sensually stimulating love scenes incorporated in every season.
Second, the theme of the show is still a controversial matter. Plastic surgery is not a new a subjectnor a concept for a TV show. We already have reality programs such as The Makeover or The Swan wherein not-so-attractive women send letters to the people behind the show and they pick out who has the most moving story and give her a free plastic surgery, makeover, and all other things that will transform her from ugly to beautifulor at least according to the societal guidelines of what beautiful is (read medias concept of beauty).
Although plastic surgery is a flourishing business in the United States and around the world, there are still some opposing factions who do not want to sacrifice the natural and inner beauty of people to satisfy their craving for skin-deep attractiveness or their longing to be young and thin (Gilbert n. pag.).
The Characters
As mentioned earlier, we have McNamara and Troy as the main characters. Although they will be the focus of this discussion, minor characters will still be discussed in relation to the two plastic surgeons.
McNamara is a struggling family man. A couple of times, his troubles with his family are shown and how he tries to keep him, his wife and their son together. It is disheartening for a man to loss control over his family because gender stereotypes have it that men can manage his family is hes really man enough. And they do get overwhelmed when mens actual power and control over women and children is decliningMens hold on their status as fathers is fewer firms and secure than ever before. (Chambers 146-155)
In stark contrast, Troy is shown as a man who has obvious sexual addiction. One who hooks up with women and makes them realize afterwards what needs to be improved in their physical appearance. He does so amazingly that appointments with him at the plastic surgery clinic is done immediately. What is the end result Money.
Gender roles are operant in how the characters are portrayed. Usually, it is the guys who clinch the dominant roles and that is true for this program. Even though females are also described as sexual active women who hook up with different partners, it does not raise their stature to a higher level. It neither makes them more important nor stronger (Weber 46). It simply tries to portray that they can also do what their male counterparts do. But in relation to gender equality and how it helps them get more respect from the other gender then it is practically far from being achieved.
The male characters are dominant, self-serving, and conceited while the female characters are unconfident and too concerned with how they look and how their lovers view them. IT was mentioned a while back that Dr. Christian Troy preys up on these women to make them undergo plastic surgery to correct their physical imperfections.
photo credits tv.com
Look at this picture for example. While it seems like a gruesome sci-fi concept, this is practically what plastic surgery is all about stitching people like dolls to create a phenomenally seductive supermodel that every woman (and man) will look up to (Lazar 512). For plastic surgery, beauty is as elusive as sunlight in winter. There are more than a million ways to create beauty, but there will always be something ugly that must be fixed. It is a perennial cycle of addiction to perfection. The perfect body is unachievable, these people may have continual plastic surgeries with hopes of finding personal satisfaction (Higuera n. pag.) And this is a sign of a psychological problem rather than a simple need for self-enhancement. Self-doubt, insecurity, fear of visible and invisible imperfections all signify that a person is in need of psychological help because of the growing dislike for hisher own physical features. On the other hand, persons addicted to cosmetic surgery demonstrate a measure of psychological problems (Higuera n. pag.).
Theories Involved
The theories involved in this analysis include the Agenda-Setting Theory and Feminist Media Studies.
The Agenda-setting theory was proposed by Donald Shaw, Maxwell McCombs, and other colleagues. They found out on another research that agenda setting establishes the salient issues or images in the minds of the public. (Littlejohn 293) The theorists further explains this by saying that in the process of selecting what things to keep and what information to disseminate to the greater society, the media acts as gatekeepers of information, make choices about what to report and how to report it. (Littlejohn 293)
And what we know (from the limited information that reached us as a product of the gate keeping) are the ones that will be reiterated, therefore leading to the phenomenon of media framing. It is described as critical to producing the world as we know it (Littlejohn). From the name itself, our insights and ideas are being framed by the influence of media and we are made to think the way they wanted us to act (Mast et. al. 749). And we can expect that different media outlets also have their own vested interest in having us act in a certain way. If it seems a little vague then you only need to think of this media outlets are now profiteering from the audience (society) consumption of goods such as magazines, movies and TV shows. Right now, we have been caught in the plastic surgery craze and they are constructing notions of plastic surgery as good and beneficial in order to carry on the business side of promoting the idea. That is how agenda-setting works.
Next theory is Feminist Media Studies. This theory observes that menare depicted in more powerful roles. (Littlejohn 306) And in this TC series, being powerful means undermining other people to uplift the self. Dr. Christian Troy is very good at doing this. Weve seen him a couple of time making women feel insecureeven Kimber who thinks she is already perfect. She draws different marks on her body using a lipstick and makes her face a mirror showing what plastic surgery could do for her. This can be traced back to the patriarchal ways of our society and how it was carried over to the present time byte power of the fourth estate which is the media.
Critical Analysis
We can deduce a couple of thing here. First is the commodification of women. While in reality, there are also men who go to plastic surgeons to change certain physical features, still there are more women who do it. And it is reflected on this TV series. Almost all who are scheduling surgeries with the doctors are women (and a larger part of them have been pressured by Dr. Troy after having sex with them). The notion that women need plastic surgery to be beautiful is a social construct. It was never that way before. That belief only stemmed up from the growing insecurities of women which were in fact brought about by media representation of what beauty is all about. Breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, botox, liposuction, and other medical surgeries to improve womens looks are simple aimed at commodifying them making them looks more attractive to men (Butler 173). Why should they even bother to become attractive They do so because the society expects that women should keep themselves that way in order to make men look their way. Having no romantic partner is seen as something dysfunctional, even in a society as highly-advanced as ours. The norms are still set-up and it prescribes that beautiful women attract gorgeous men.
This resembles a custom that is evident in the earlier times. Like in the past generation of dowry systems (vivaaha.org n. pag.), instead of women bringing dowry to the family of her future husband, now the women could just simple invest on herself and be the dowry herself. And the male also uplifts his masculinity by having a lovely bride. There is a sense of victory in having a beautiful woman for a wife.
Also, at one episode Kimber tells Christian thats why I need you to freshen me up. I want my looks back. Theyre my commodity. I am a product (nirorivera n. pag.). Why was this line delivered by a female character Imagine this line being said by a guy and it will probably not have the same effect on you. There is something compelling about obliging a women say these lines. Somewhere in between you will be confronted by reality that women are the ones who are being marketed for the male market. While it may not be the way nature hoped things would be, society has a way of inducing how people would react to certain things. And now, because of the continued relegation of women, they are downgraded to mere commodities that are buyable and manageable by men.
Conclusion
Boston.coms report was right, The show was a slap in the face to our cultures makeover mania and the blind worship of physical beauty (Gilbert n. pag.). There may be nothing wrong with a couple of restorative procedure performed on a person who encountered a mishap. But becoming narcissistic and eager to achieve perfect beauty is not normal and should not be deemed so. NipTuck is a very good TV series which acts in a reverse psychology fashion of promotingunpromoting plastic surgery. It is not a reality show but it is closer to reality than any of the reality TV programs involving plastic surgery.
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